‘Sorry, I Gendered You.’ ”

Check this amazing story from "America's Heartland"
"Male, female, transgender, no gender, gay, lesbian, straight. Labels don’t matter at Grinnell College. Students can share a dormitory room, bathroom, shower room or locker room with any of the above, if they choose."
The idea was driven by transgender students, those who don’t identify themselves as either male or female, and students transitioning from one gender to the other. Gender-neutral grew from one percent of the school’s on-campus housing in 2008-09 to 18 percent this fall, and officials discontinued asking students to divulge gender or orientation. The rooms include straight males and females living together, although those who self-identify as transgender are given priority, which includes five this fall."

The most impressive part of the story could be this excerpt:
"More students today don’t identify with the binary. That is a more recent shift,” said Astrid Henry, associate professor of gender, women’s and sexuality studies at Grinnell.Some students don’t want to be referred to in male or female pronouns because they carry societal labels, preferring the pronoun “ze” (for she) or “hir” (for he), Henry said. “Even in class as the chair of gender studies I get told, ‘I don’t want to be called she,’ ze said."
Further more, parents who visit their children on gender-neutral floors now will encounter these signs: “Queer Safe Space” and “Be an ally to gay and lesbians.
!8 year old "Austin Mckinney" ( a ftm transgendered student) said he has found plenty of allies and he feels
 comfortable here. "It’s a welcome breath of fresh air after high school,” he said. “People here even say to you, ‘Sorry, I gendered you.’ ”
Wow!

Heavy Metal Transgender Chick!

I really like this story! It comes from a site called "Gun Shy Assassin"
I have to tell you I'm not the biggest "metal music" fan although I did lose some hearing to "Black Sabbath" when Ozzie Ozborne was lead singer.
"Gun Shy Assassin" actually picked the story up from The Advocate who interviewed transgendered singer Mina Caputo, who  used to be known as Keith Caputo. The article centered about her new life in a band like Life of Agony.
As I read on, the article began to bring up a few very familiar themes. Mina said: “I was very boxed in that metal thing. The first album I’ve ever done was released and then it pretty much exploded in Europe and I kind of had no choice but to leave school. I didn’t want to sing in a band. That wasn’t really what I set out to do. I wanted to go to Julliard. I wanted to play the classics, get good grades…and I pictured myself living more of a feminine life then at 19 when this whole alpha male world just pretty much took over,” she said.
“I was in hell for years…It was more of a sense of responsibility and not getting labels down… the management, the band, and the fans. And I mean, we were a really, really really, really big band. We were doing concerts in Europe where 60 to 100 thousand people were showing up.”

Sound familar? Sure! Perhaps you like me tried to play the "alpha male" game.
The real impact of "Mina's" story to me is yet another visible person in our society has stepped forward to educate others on a positive level.
From women such as "Stana" at "Femulate" speaking to college students to entertainers such as "Mina" and "Chaz Bono"  telling their stories: the world will be eager to listen and learn!
                                                             

Another Big Date Set!

I'm sooo excited my first appointment has been set with the doctor who will actually supervise my hormone therapy in approximately two weeks! Yay!